God
A god is a supernatural being, worshipped by individuals and usually perceived as enormously powerful, and charged with responsibility for some aspect of nature or creation. Additionally, most benign Gods have malign counterparts. Cultural views Human On Earth, Gods range from those with names and specific portfolios to the omnipotent God of the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam), to spirits believed extant within aspects of nature (paganism of various sorts), to powerful alien beings. Often, one being's god is another being's myth. Sometimes, one being's god is merely another being's powerful alien, as was the case of many of the Gods worshipped on Earth. This was the case with Apollo and Kulkukan. (TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?"; TAS: "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth") One of Earth's benign Gods, for example, had a malign counterpart known as the Devil. (TNG: "Devil's Due") Bajoran Most non-Bajorans view the Prophets as powerful beings (usually calling them wormhole aliens) and not as gods, but to the Bajorans they are gods. (DS9: "Emissary") The Bajoran's malign counterpart to the Prophets were known as the the Pah-wraiths. Some Bajorans believe these counterparts to be the true gods of Bajor. The Dominion In the Dominion, the Jem'Hadar and Vorta view the Founders as their gods, whereas most other species see them as merely changeling aliens. This view is genetically engineered into their design to ensure absolute loyalty. (DS9: "Hippocratic Oath", "To the Death", "Tears of the Prophets", et al.) Klingon The Klingons at one time had gods. During the 14th century CE they were all slain by Klingon warriors because they were more trouble than they were worth. (DS9: "Homefront") Godly Encounters In 2287, Sybok began the final leg in his quest to find God, whom he believed was located at Sha Ka Ree in the galactic core. It is however discovered that Sybok's god, though seemingly well versed in the Gods of the Universe, was in fact a malevolent entity who, himself, was on a quest to obtain a starship and leave his confinement. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) :The human image portrayed by the "God of Sha Ka Ree" from ''Star Trek V was portrayed by actor George Murdock. The image of the Andorian God, as well as the other two unidentified Gods (shown), were among the images proposed to represent the "many faces of God" in Star Trek V. These images, however, did not make it into the final production of the movie, but were included in the Special Features section of the Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Special Edition) DVD.'' In 2368, Q would claim to Picard that he was in fact God, when Picard was having a near death experience after a near-fatal wounding. Despite Q's admittedly all-powerful nature within our plane of existence, Picard retorted, "Q, I refuse to believe that I am dead and that you are God...the Universe is not so poorly designed!" (TNG: "Tapestry") On Brax, Q was referred to as "The God of Lies". (DS9: "Q-Less") Additional References * TNG: ** "Justice" ** "Who Watches the Watchers?" Background Gene Roddenberry was known to be a Humanistic Atheist or Agnostic and debunking both human and alien gods and superstitions was a regular theme in his stories. See episodes like TOS:"The Return of the Archons", TOS:"Who Mourns for Adonais?", TOS:"The Apple", TAS:"How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth", Star Trek: Phase II:"In Thy Image", TNG:"Justice" where a god is actually shown to be either an alien or a machine (or both). de:Götter